Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Watch this programme!

Last night I thoroughly enjoyed a new tv series called The Great Interior Design Challenge.It's on every night for two weeks on BBC2. The idea is to take three similar houses - last night they were Edwardian houses in Muswell Hill, London and get three assorted people to transform the same room - last night master bedrooms. It was fascinating to see how creative people can be when given a limited budget and limited time. It's that competitive adrenilin that gets ideas buzzing! Different rooms, different competitors, different style of houses every night. My idea of bliss! I think the programme will be very successful both here and in America. Whether your style is vintage, French country or contemporary there are ideas and rooms to suit everyone on this show!Do you like yoga? For the first time in years I did half an hour of yoga this morning after my back gave me a wake up call at the weekend. And I feel good. I remember getting weird aches and pains once before and it turned out to be nothing more than caffeine withdrawal as I'd suddenly decided to stop drinking coffee. I'm wondering whether trying to give up sugar as I currently am could have a similar effect on the body? Have you noticed how sugar has suddenly become the number one topic in the media? Sometimes carbs are the no-nos, sometimes saturated fat, now it's sugar. Yoga gets you to listen to what your body wants and doesn't want so maybe we should let our own individual bodies decide what is right for us as individuals? Agree? By the way if anyone can recommend a yoga class in Petersfield I would be grateful.

No offence taken :o) I am a little disappointed in the programme though; I think the interiors are an improvement on what we initially see but of course these programmes are extremely well edited and who really knows what they usually look like. I think the designers are playing really safe when they should be creating something really wonderful, cosy, interesting and perhaps thrilling for the homeowner or why bring in a professional at all?

I have to agree that I think the first programme was more exciting than subsequent ones. Two demanding clients have made life unfairly difficult for their designers. Maybe the designers are playing it safe because they don't want to risk alienating client or judges and therefore not winning. It would be good if the amateur results were compared to a fourth similar room devised by a well-known professional designer like Nina Campbell or Tricia Guild so we all learnt more along the way...

I just loathe how many programmes have a jeopardy element built in....will they finish in time? Will the client like it? Will they keep to budget? Who will win?

Why not give the contestants adequate time to complete the job, say a month, work out an agreed budget from the outset and fully understand the client's wishes. Let us see how they decided on such dire wallpaper and not bother with who wins, they are all pretty hideous!

Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday daily 10am to 5pm.

Email: jennystacy6@gmail.com

Cushions by Tanya Williamson

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About Me

I have a shop called Handmade Happiness in Petersfield, Hampshire.
It sells UK makers work including my own things.
I like designing, making and sharing what I like through this blog.
Before I got passionate about handmade things I was a journalist.